I Promise
by DBwrites
Summary: Right after their daughter was born, Oliver and Felicity made a promise they hoped they would never have to keep. They should have known better than to have hope.
1. Prologue

Oliver had never been very good at sleeping. Even as a child he rarely slept through the night, driving his mother crazy (who, despite their surplus of staff, still insisted on getting up with him every time). And since Felicity was _very_ good at sleeping, claiming it as one of her top skills, it only made sense that he would get up with the baby at 3AM.

So, once again, Oliver sat in the pink nursery, his tiny daughter cooing in his arms. "I'm starting to suspect you're just crying because you want to hang out," Oliver accused, trying on his best 'dad voice.' "But it's okay. Whenever you don't wake up I usually end up in here to check on you anyway."

Oliver let the quiet of the room wash over him, only with the swish of the rocker's fabric and the occasional babble from his daughter breaking through the silence. As he once again examined his daughter's face, checking for even the slightest change since they were in this same position the previous night, he checked off his family in her tiny features. She had her mother's eyes, curious but determined. His mother's mouth, his father's nose. Donna swore she had _her_ natural blonde hair (though there wasn't actually enough of it yet to tell). And when she laughed, though it was infrequent at this age, it sounded just like a tiny Thea.

Their decision to have a child hadn't been an easy one. Both Felicity and Oliver desperately wanted a child together, but the realities of their lives always seemed to put that plan on hold. However, it was Diggle, when announcing that he and Lyla were expecting their son, that changed their minds. John had admitted to them that he couldn't imagine looking back on his life and realizing he didn't do something because of a fear it would end badly. His family had given him more joy than anything else in his life and long after his time with team Arrow was over, they would be the ones still at his side. To give them up because of the dangers of the present would mean giving up his own happiness in the future. But, of course, that didn't make the idea any less terrifying.

"You know, I promised you something when you were first born, right after mommy fell asleep and we had our first little talk... But I'm afraid that day was so traumatic for you that you don't remember. It's okay, kid, I'll keep reminding you..."

As if in response, Elaina stretched her mouth into a yawn, blinking her eyes shut for only a moment before looking once again for her father to continue his story.

"I've promised a lot of people I would protect them, Lainie-bug. Some of them I've failed, more than I _thought_ I could handle, and I'll carry that guilt with me forever. But you sweetheart, you I can _never_ fail. And not just because I wouldn't recover from that. But because this world _needs_ you. You're the most good I'm _ever_ going to do."

"You're putting a lot of pressure on someone who hasn't even tipped ten pounds yet."

Oliver looked up to see Felicity leaning against the doorway, the hallway still dark behind her.

"I told you I have her tonight. You were going to try to get into work in the morning, remember?"

"I don't _have_ to go to work," Felicity mumbled before biting her lip and making her way into the room. "I'd rather be here."

Oliver began to move over so his wife could squeeze into the rocker beside him, but instead she lowered herself onto the floor, putting her at eye level with their daughter in Oliver's lap.

"Are we making a mistake?" Felicity asked suddenly, her eyes flicking up to Oliver before retraining on Elaina.

The baby immediately began to fuss as the movement of the rocker slowed to a halt. Felicity had been doing so well since the baby was born. Even in her most sleep deprived states she had been full of smiles and constant competition with Oliver to come up with the best "bad dad" jokes. But Oliver immediately began to worry… For her to even ask, to question if their daughter was a mistake-

"I don't mean her," Felicity corrected, her eyes widening in realization, "No, she's perfect… somehow... I mean keeping up with our night jobs. Vigilante-ing. Seeking _out_ trouble rather than staying out of it. Are we making a mistake?"

Oliver let out a relieved sigh and gently began pushing against the floor once again to reanimate the rocking chair and re-sooth his daughter. It wasn't like he hadn't asked himself that very question a million times since the plus sign turned up on the home pregnancy test. Not only did they risk someone coming after her (a thought Oliver could never spend much time contemplating without hearing blood rush to his ears) but they risked Elaina losing her father, her aunts and uncles, and potentially even her mother.

"No," Oliver finally answered, once he was sure he could say the word without a hint of doubt in his voice. "We're not."

"How can you know… how can you be so sure? I've already been attacked more times than any IT girl, or even CEO, should have been. You practically die about twice a year. Everyone we love has been put in some kind of danger… Remember what happened with William-"

Oliver shifted Elaina into one arm and reached his free hand out, cupping Felicity's cheek, which she instinctively leaned into his hand.

"Felicity, this is _our_ daughter," Oliver stated with a sigh, "Yes, I know we shouldn't be making assumptions about who she will be or what she will become or how she will feel… but judging by her genetics, she's going to feel _pretty_ strongly about justice. I can't even imagine sitting her down one day to tell her about what we _used_ to do. What kind of burden would she carry around? That her birth ended the possibility for others to be saved? For others to be protected? For God knows what to happen to her city? Felicity, I promise I will do everything in my power to keep her safe… to keep all of us safe. But I need to believe that she will want us to continue to do the _right_ thing."

As if soothed to sleep by her father's voice, Elaina's eyes began to flutter closed and both of her parents fell quiet while her breaths evened out and her head rolled to nuzzle into her father's chest. Felicity pulled away from Oliver's hand with an appreciative smile, her eyes flicking toward the crib.

In one gentle movement (which Oliver couldn't help comparing to moving an active landmine) he stood up from the rocker and shifted their daughter into her bed.

As he watched her fall further into sleep, her hand drawing to face, he found his own hands feeling overwhelmingly empty.

"The timer is set," Felicity whispered, suddenly appearing behind Oliver and wrapping her arms around his waist, "Three hours and she's up again looking for breakfast."

Oliver nodded, knowing that Felicity was signaling for them to head back to bed for a few more hours of sleep. But he couldn't help but notice that she wasn't moving either, equally frozen in awe of the tiny miracle they had created.

"Let's go to sleep," he finally prompted, twisting to wrap his arm around her shoulders. She didn't let go of him, rather she just shifted her body to his side, leaving both arms around his waist.

"Wait…" She mumbled, looking down at their daughter once more. Oliver's eyes followed hers, fearing he would see opened eyes, but Elaina was still sleeping, her mouth pursed as she encountered very serious problems in her dreams.

" _You have to promise me something too_ …"

"Anything. If it's you asking, Felicity, you know it's anything."

"You sure?"

Felicity's hesitation made him nervous, but he knew no matter what she asked, his answer would be yes. "Of course."

Felicity sighed, looking their daughter to Oliver, "She comes first," she finally sighed, "I know- I know you're going to say we're both first, but… Oliver I _made_ this choice. She hasn't… not yet. So… if it ever comes down to it, you make sure she comes first… okay?"

Felicity's brow furrowed as she must have felt Oliver's whole body tense. Considering how much time they both spent fearing these worst case scenarios, they hadn't vocalized this shift in their priorities yet. Oliver knew it didn't mean they loved each other any less or wouldn't give everything to keep one another safe, but at the end of the day, since they decided to become parents, they knew someone else would have to come first.

"Oliver," Felicity's grip around his waist tightened, "I really need you to promise this. I can't have anything happen to her… I can't…"

"I know… Felicity I know… We _both_ protect her first," Oliver stressed, as much as the words pained him to say aloud. "We will always have each other's backs… but… if it ever comes down to it, she comes first. I promise."


	2. Chapter 1

_He_ was supposed to be the one that had to keep the promise. Felicity had only agreed to it because she couldn't foresee a situation where she would have to choose between their daughter and the love of her life. But when Dhark's ghosts were heading heading toward the bunker and she had to decide between helping lead Oliver out of Dhark's hideout, or running with their child, Oliver made it _very_ clear that it was time for her to hold up her end of the deal.

Felicity would say that running that day was the hardest thing she ever had to do, but it wasn't. It was so chaotic, so rushed, that in the moment it barely felt like a choice was even being made. But getting up, moving forward every day with the knowledge that she had to face the rest of her life without him? _That_ was the hardest thing she ever had to do. And she refaced the challenge every morning.

Life became a little easier when they moved out of Star City. She and her mother took Lainie to the coast and as the years passed, it almost felt like the days were getting easier, even back to normal. But then her daughter would do something, like put on a mask and try to repel from their second floor window, and Felicity was transported back to that damn promise all over again.

But what made the memory even more painful was that she wouldn't change her choice… as often as she played through the scenario in her dreams, she was never able to save them both.

"Mama!" Lainie screamed, the furrow in her brow telling Felicity that this probably wasn't her daughter's first call for attention, "Gamma said dinner is _ready_. And by _ready_ she means the food was _delivered_. But she _told_ me to say ready cause that sounds better."

"Would you prefer she _make_ dinner?" Felicity questioned, "Or even worse, _I_ make dinner?"

Lainie groaned, grabbing her mother's hand and pulling her out of the deck chair, "I wish _I_ could make dinner. You said Daddy was a good cook. Maybe I got his gene-es?"

"Genes, sweetie," Felicity corrected, "And hopefully you did. I _really_ miss chicken cordon bleu. We'll test it out once you're old enough to use the stove."

"When's that? When I'm _five_?" An impish grin spread across Lainie's face and Felicity knew she was supposed to laugh but all she could focus on was Oliver having the same giddy look in his eyes whenever he was especially proud of his joke.

"I'll check the instructions for the stove," Felicity finally answered, " _buuut_ I'm thinking you have to hit double digits first."

With an eye-roll worthy of her favorite aunt, Lainie let out a loud groan before leading the way into the house, her sandy curls bouncing with each stomp.

"Hey, Pumpkin, you get Mommy away from her work?" Donna's voice was perky, but Felicity could see her mother's eyes searching her's for signs of trouble. Today marked four years to the day that she had lost Oliver, that they had _all_ lost Oliver, and tomorrow would mark the day her mother moved into the loft "just to help out" and never went back to Las Vegas. Donna had honored Felicity's request not to bring up what day it was, but that didn't mean Felicity couldn't recognize the sympathetic looks every time she crossed her mother's path.

"Yup, she wasn't even workin! She was _nappin'_ on the deck!"

Felicity forced a smile as Lainie turned back to her, even pulling the strength for a wink, which caused the small girl to erupt into a burst of giggles about tattling on her mother.

"Thea called," Donna mentioned casually as she pulled a bag of steamable vegetables from the microwave, "she wanted to check in. Said to call her back if you're…" Donna cast a glance down at Lainie who sat obliviously at the kitchen table. "…feeling up to it," she finished, pouring the broccoli into a bowl and carrying them over with a paper bag of Thai food.

Felicity nodded, knowing that as much as she wanted the avoid the conversation, she would have to make the call. In a selfish moment, she had torn the last piece of family Thea had left away. And though "the world's greatest aunt" visited on a regular basis, Felicity knew it wasn't enough. She _owed_ Thea this call.

Felicity struggled to focus throughout the meal, only eating enough to keep her daughter from catching on to any change. As they moved through their evening routine, things got easier (they always did when Felicity could focus on her daughter). But randomly throughout the night, Felicity kept being reminded of how much Oliver would have adored this seemingly monotonous routine. She could practically see him playing with Lainie while she pretended to be a mermaid in the bath, singing "This is the Way We Brush Our Teeth" repeatedly while Lainie marched around the bathroom, telling bedtime stories of superhero princesses going to save their prince from the evil queen… he would have eaten every moment up.

Secretly, Felicity had hoped that Lainie would fight going to bed tonight. It would have given her an excuse to stay on "mommy duty" late. To not focus on the date. To not return Thea's call. To not to hear the voice of yet another person she let down that night.

But, of course, Lainie went down without having to be asked twice. She always _had_ had her mother's love of sleeping. And Felicity soon found herself once again on the back deck, her cellphone in hand.

As Felicity pulled up her contacts, she tried desperately to ignore "Oliver Queen," still stored in her address book directly after his sister. The number had long ago been disconnected, and probably belonged to some middle school girl by now, but something in Felicity was never able to delete it. She had already made that choice once.

"Hello?" Thea answered on the first ring. Felicity could hear Roy still talking in the background but his voice quickly faded as Thea must have walked into another room. "I've missed you, Lic. I'm so glad you could get back to me."

"Yeah, um, me too. We've all missed you too," Felicity found herself rushing through her words, as if ending this conversation quickly would avoid the topic she knew was coming, the one she had avoided since waking up before dawn this morning. "Lainie was asking for you tonight. She was hoping you could come over and make some meatloaf. My mom tried to make it last week and we needed a bread knife to _try_ to cut it. _Try_ being the key word."

Thea chuckled and Felicity immediately tried to locate a hint of insincerity in her joy, but she couldn't find it. Maybe Thea wasn't struggling today? Maybe she really had just called to check in? To find out about coming over for dinner next week or wanting to plan a family vacation for the upcoming summer? _Maybe Thea had learned to move past this date, and one day Felicity would be able to do the same._

"So how are you doing?" Thea asked suddenly, the lightness of her voice now missing. Felicity should have known better than to think she could avoid this conversation- Thea and her brother were the same that way.

"I'm okay…"

"You're not okay, Lic," Thea interrupted, "Please don't lie to me. Just tell me how your day was… really."

"Unproductive," Felicity admitted. "I worked for a few hours but thank God Curtis picked up the slack for me. They do want me to come back to Star City for the board meeting next week, so maybe I'll bring Lainie back to you guys for the next visit."

Thea was quiet for a moment and Felicity knew she was debating whether to call her out for trying to change the subject. Finally, she just continued on with the conversation, her voice quiet, "We missed you two at the memorial today. The city dedicated his old mayoral office to him. It was nice… Barry even came in from Central City…"

Felicity shut her eyes, letting her head fall back against the Adirondack chair as she tried to wipe the memory of her last visit to city hall from her mind. She remembered being there to accept a memorial plaque for her husband, her young daughter pulled close to her chest. That was the very day she decided to leave Star City for good. The day she realized that even though the city seemed to be healing, she never would.

"Any word about…" Felicity began to question, but she found herself unable to say his name. Dhark had disappeared after Oliver's final stand had devastated his army, his financial holdings, and revealed the full extent Dhark's nefarious plan to the city. Darhk had barely escaped Star City that night and must have moved on to devastate a new city and to tear apart more loving families.

"His name popped up after some attack over in Russia, but Laurel couldn't track down more than that. To be honest, we have our hands full enough trying to hold things together in this city… we can't afford to chase Dhark halfway around the world."

"I want him dead…" Felicity mumbled, checking behind her to make sure little ears hadn't followed her outside. But, to her relief, other than a hall light left on next to the staircase and the gentle glow of her laptop on the kitchen counter, there was no sign of movement inside the house.

"I know, Lic. Us too. We just can't risk…"

"I know… I'm sorry, Thea, I know. It's just a difficult day…"

"Hey, Felicity?"

"Yeah?"

"You know I love you, right? We all do."

Felicity couldn't help but smile, despite the constant reminder in the back of head that Thea should hate her for tearing apart the last of her family, Thea never failed to provide support. In many ways, she and Felicity were the only two that could fully understand their loss. They had both lost the most important man in their lives.

"I love you too, Thea. We'll get together soon. I promise."

"Yeah, soon." Thea agreed, "Give your mom a big hug for me. And maybe ask her to stop dropping hints to Roy about us needing to have some babies?"

Despite her best efforts, Felicity let out a laugh. Leave it to her mother to act as the overbearing mother-in-law to a married couple that had supposedly escaped the pleasure having any in-laws. "Will do. Talk to you later."

As Thea hung up, Felicity found herself staring at the phone. Her life as she knew it ended with a phone call and she couldn't help but see the irony in that. Technology had always been her savior, her escape from a reality she couldn't always control. Yet, it had been technology that allowed her to hear Oliver's panic as he begged her to make a run for it. It had been technology that allowed her to see the emergency doors slam closed all around Oliver as Dhark and his minions closed in on him. It had been technology that she couldn't overcome fast enough that night when her daughter's terrified cries echoed through the bunker and Felicity had to leave her computer, and her only tie to her doomed husband, behind.

Felicity groaned as her phone rang again. It was a number she didn't recognize, which almost definitely meant there was some disaster going on back at work, and would suck up the rest of the night trying to fix. But, despite her desire to ignore it, she forced herself to pick the phone up right before it went to voicemail.

"Hello?" She answered, only to be met with static, "Hello?!" She questioned again, letting loose a groan through clenched teeth.

"Fe-Felicity?" A voice broke through the static, so muffled that she almost didn't identify it right away, "Felicity, it's me. _I need your help_."


	3. Chapter 2

She was going crazy... or she already _was_ crazy and just hadn't noticed it until now? The theory made sense, considering that they say those who are _actually_ insane don't realize it until it is far too late. And for Felicity, her "wake up" had come 20 minutes earlier when she received a call from her _very dead_ husband.

Felicity couldn't say losing her mind was a surprise. Disappointing, sure, but not a complete shocker. It was about time considering what she had been through since meeting Oliver Queen so many years prior.

Felicity knew, in the back of her mind, what she heard _couldn't_ have been real. But that didn't stop her from leaving a note on the counter and jumping in her car without even bothering to grab a change of clothes. Even if she was crazy, she desperately needed to hold onto this feeling, this _hope_ , for just a little bit longer. And if that meant a midnight drive to Star City? So be it.

She didn't call the team right away though. Not out of consideration for the late hour, but rather her suspicion that reality would set in any moment and she would be forced to turn her car around. Forced to go back to her mother and her daughter and continue life without Oliver, just as she had every day for the past four years.

But when her GPS announced that she was one hour from her destination, real hope finally fluttered in Felicity's chest. Maybe, _just maybe_ , that call hadn't been a cruel hallucination. However, just as quickly as the hope appeared, her heart fell. If the call was real, if Oliver was, indeed, _alive_ , she had gone _years_ without trying to find him. She had given into guilt and grief and _stupidly_ accepted that shriveled and burnt corpse clutching Oliver's bow as her husband. And as her first wave of guilt rolled through her, the realization that he had missed _everything_ hit her just as hard. Not only had he missed Lainie's first steps and the first words, but he had missed the hard stuff too. The earaches and the terrible twos. The tantrums and the picky eating. As much as guilt had taken over Felicity's mind, part of her heart screamed out in frustration that he hadn't been there. That she hadn't actually needed to do everything alone.

Everyone was waiting at the table when Felicity stepped into the bunker for the first time since that night. She forced herself to walk directly to her loved ones, to not even glance at her old station or the empty case that once held Oliver's suit. Felicity knew she wouldn't be able to handle it. Not yet. Instead, she held eye contact with Thea until she positioned herself at the head of the table, right in Oliver's old seat.

"I… I got a phone call," she started out, her voice already shaking. But just as she had struggled to call the team in an hour ago, Felicity still couldn't bring herself to admit what had heard on that earlier that night. Or, what she _thought_ she had heard. Instead, she pulled her phone out of her back pocket and hit the play button.

" _It's me..._ " The recording was quiet in the large room but the team's reactions told Felicity everything she needed to know: the voice _wasn't_ just a hallucination. Everyone was leaning in before the recording's first sentence was even finished playing. " _I don't have long..."_ There was a pause in the voice, some shuffling and then he spoke again in a whisper, " _But I need you to track this phone. We're somewhere near Star City... Dhark is picking something up, but they said we're leaving by morning. Once Dhark gets whatever he's here for..._ " Felicity stopped the recording. At that point he had suddenly hung up and the only sound that followed were her cries begging for him not to leave her again.

Reflected in each of her companion's faces were the very emotions battling for attention in Felicity's chest. To Felicity's left, Thea's face lit up in hope at her brother's voice while Roy balanced out his wife's excitement with a wary grimace. On the other side of the table guilt flashed across Quentin's eyes while Laurel wore a look of pure confusion. But it was Diggle's lack of emotion, straight ahead, that she needed the most at this moment.

Diggle stood up, his mouth taught and eyes narrowed as he pulled his shoulders back. "We clearly don't have a lot of time to play with," he started slowly as he eyed Felicity's phone on the table, "Get to work tracking the phone Felicity," he instructed with a nod, "everyone else, suit up. We move out once we have a location."

Felicity had hoped that returning to her night job would be like riding a bike; however, considering she had never learned to ride a bike, she wasn't sure that analogy carried any merit. Sure, she didn't hesitate with the computer or tracking the phone, but she found herself unable to sit still once she was left alone in the bunker. She paced around the station, listening to every shuffle and whispered direction as the team moved closer to the former site of Dhark's mansion, now a pile of rubble. She was only able to retake her seat when Thea activated a shaky body camera.

"No sight of him…" Diggle mumbled, the sound of leaves moving in the wind almost overpowering the hush of his voice, "Just those damn ghosts running around in the rubble. I haven't missed them."

"They're all carrying shovels…" Laurel observed in, "Maybe they think something is still buried here? I don't know how it could be… the place has been abandoned for years. Teenagers hang out here on Halloween."

"What _could_ they be looking for?" Thea questioned, the camera shaking as she took another tentative step forward, "I thought there was no basement to this place?"

Felicity sighed, letting her head fall into her hands, "There wasn't…" she mumbled to herself.

 _"Overwatch? WHERE IS THE BASEMENT?!" Oliver's voice came blaring over her phone's speakers as she tried desperately to re-interpret the security blueprints of Dhark's estate on her computer._

 _"I can't find it, there IS no sublevel on the map!" Felicity pulled up the security cameras of Dhark's mansion and immediately located Oliver, taking a sharp left down a first floor hallway in an attempt to shake the pack of ghosts closing in on him._

 _As Felicity felt another shot of adrenaline surge through her veins, her tiny daughter started fussing a few feet away. "Quiet, baby," Felicity warned, chewing the inside of her cheek, "Mommy has to find Daddy a way out of the crazy man's mansion."_

 _"We can't leave yet. We have to get that totum. And the only intel we have-"_

 _Oliver's voice cut out as a blast was heard over the comm, followed by a burst of static. At first, Felicity assumed something was wrong with the tech and she moved to check their connection, but shortly after Dhark's voice echoed in her ear and Oliver froze on her screen, his eyes searching the ceiling until they finally paused on an intercom. Felicity scrolled through the hallway cameras, looking for any sign of Dhark, but there was no sign of him._

 _"I'm always happy to have so many visitors," Dhark started off slowly, pausing as another explosion could be heard, "But unfortunately I'm not home anymore. As you can see, we've decided to do some… remodeling, which can get a little messy. As an apology for missing you, I have sent some of my comrades over to the Queen campaign office. They plan to leave a little gift for you there. Well, if you can make it back… If not I guess your family will need to accept it on your behalf."_

 _"FELICITY!" Oliver's voice screamed over another boom. She didn't miss that Oliver didn't use her code name this time. They both knew the secrecy didn't matter. Dhark clearly knew who they were, and more importantly, where they were. "Get out of there. Get HER out of there."_

 _"Oli-"_

 _"You promised me. You promised, now get out!"_

 _With Oliver's words still ringing in her ears, the comms suddenly cut out. Seconds later, the monitors showed security gates slamming down over every exit in Oliver's hallway before another explosion seemed to rattle the walls and the security camera feed went black. Right on cue, the baby's fussing erupted into full blown shrieks and Felicity's decision was made for her. She ran._

"Felicity," Thea's call for attention broke her out of her daydream and she realized he knuckles were white as her hands clutched the metal table before her. This was going to go better. This wouldn't be the same. _It couldn't be_. "Felicity, we have eyes on the men. I… I think it's _really_ him…"

Felicity squinted desperately at the screen but between Thea's tiny movements and the green glow of the night vision camera, she could barely make out anything out besides two groups of men hovering around the rubble.

"Felicity, we have eyes on Oliver," Diggle confirmed, "Is everyone in place? The charges set?"

A choruses of yeses echoed through the comms and Felicity watched her screen with bated breath. Everything was over in minutes but it felt like hours. The explosives went off and most of Dhark's ghosts abandoned their positions to attack the mysterious sources of the noise. Chaos followed but eventually Felicity heard the phrase she had been waiting for, "We got him… we'll lose these guys and bring him home. Sit tight."

* * *

47 minutes. It should have taken exactly 47 minutes, driving the speed limit, to make it from Dhark's former property to the bunker. And by 48 minutes, Felicity had completely convinced herself this had all been an elaborate but insane dream. That any moment Lainie would be tickling her toes in bed and giggling that it was already time to wake up.

But 49 minutes later, the elevator bell sounded, and _he_ was the first thing she saw.

His arms were around her before she could fully take him in, but she could feel the differences immediately. He had lost weight, mostly muscle, and when she leaned back to examine his face, it was pale and fallen. But his eyes were his. Blue and shining and looking at her with the same wonder she knew was reflected in her own eyes.

She knew the rest of the team had exited the elevator, they must have, but not once did Felicity look back at them. Instead she buried her face into Oliver's chest, knowing no words could cover what she needed right now. She just needed to know he was real.

"I knew I'd see you again. I knew it," Oliver mumbled into her hair. Felicity knew the concern was ridiculous, but for a moment all she could think about was if she washed her hair that morning (or even the morning before that).

Felicity began to open her mouth, to ask the question that had been hanging on her lips since she first heard Oliver's voice, but he beat her to the punch.

"What about…" Oliver didn't finish his question, he didn't need to. Of course his first question was about Lainie. If their roles had been reversed, and Felicity had spent four years torn apart from her family, her first question would have been the same. But what she _didn't_ expect was her response. For years all she wanted was to see her family back together, to see Oliver and Lainie back together, but now her stomach clenched as every protective instinct in Felicity's bones erupted in full force. Her daughter's world was about to be turned upside down and Felicity had no way to help her.

"Call your mom, have her bring Lainie here now," Thea answered for Felicity, giving her a reassuring nod before turning back to Oliver.

"Why can't we go-" Felicity cut herself off, answering her own question. Thea wasn't suggesting Lainie come to Star City for a visit, she wanted her here for protection. _Dhark must have gotten away_. And their white picket fence would not provide the protection that little girl needed right now.

Felicity knew she should be scared of Dhark's retaliation. Of whatever was to come. But at this moment all she could focus on was that her husband was standing before her and over 100 miles away, their daughter was about to wake up with no idea her father was back from the dead.


End file.
